Dream Non-Conf. Sched. 2014-15

[chapwilvaug72]

With Louisville exit; how strong should the approx. 12 non-conf opponents be? What teams would you like on the card? Maybe ucla and usc in L.A. to bolster KO recruiting.

 

[Kitaman]

Can we wait a few weeks before answering? We still got a lot of Bazz to watch.

 

[husky99]

Kind of early question... UK, Florida, and Mich st.

 

[ColoradoUCFan]

Let's drop the west coast trips. We already have to travel too much in conference.

 

[huskiesNhoos]

Some combination of KU, UK, nova, UF, wich st, Indiana, uva, Georgetown

 

[husky99]

Let's drop the west coast trips. We already have to travel too much in conference.

I think ollie does that for recruiting

 

[rs2905]

I think ollie does that for recruiting

I think we also have a return game with Stanford, so we're headed there anyway.

Honestly, I don't mind a couple cupcakes to start there year, but we all know the OOC schedule needs to be stepped up. We already have the Puerto Rico tournament that includes BC, New Mexico, A&M and West Virginia. I'm guessing we owe Florida a game in Gainesville as well.

After that, I like the yearly game with Harvard...maybe we can get the UMass series going again as well. And of course I'd love to see some of the old Big East rivals again: Georgetown, Nova, Cuse, Pitt especially. It'd be great if we could grab a game with one of them.

 

[tcf15]

If we are going to do any California road trips, I hope we don't schedule USC. UCLA and SDSU would be best.

 

[SixRings]

Would like to see Indiana again. UConn and IU have played some very good games over the years. Would also like to beat the crap out of Rutgers each year. Overall, IMO, we cant have enough Big Ten OOC games (for the time being). Especially with a NYC focus on a UConn - Rutgers series. Although the CR board posters who certainly know more about CR than I might say don't help give the Big Ten NYC without an invite first. Perplexing at the least. Would still like to see UConn - IU and always like a UConn MSU game.

 

[mcs333]

Would like at least one game every year in NYC which helps recruiting and is a home game for at least three of our players.

 

[CTBasketball]

@ Stanford
@ Florida
Michigan St.
UCLA
Villanova/Georgetown

 

[SubbaBub]

One from each group plus the assorted preseason tournaments and other hoi poli.

Duke, UNC, UK, KU, MSU

SU, Gtown, Nova, StJ

Mich, Ind, Ill, NW, Neb, OSU, PSU, Wisc

Az, UCLA, USC, Gonzaga, Oregon, FSU, Clemson

 

[CTBasketball]

When are we eligible for the Maui tournament? Is that next year or the following?

 

[tcf15]

When are we eligible for the Maui tournament? Is that next year or the following?

We were eligible for 2015, but that field has already been announced. Hopefully we can get in for 2016.

 

[Chin Diesel]

We've had plenty of good games against B1G teams: Indiana, MSU, Michigan.

I wouldn't mind seeing Ohio State added to that list.

 

[Tenspro2002]

We need to go after the big boys, the top of the Power 5 conferences. We did well to schedule 6 games against major conference opponents, but there were way too many middling teams this year, with only 1 out of 6 of them in the top 50.

Washington was mediocre over the home-and-home.
Stanford isn't really notable this year, but hopefully they'll be better next year.
Indiana is a big name, but we got them in a one-off game in a down year.
Maryland has been mediocre for a while.
BC is terrible.

We need to maintain and extend the series with Florida. I heard we're getting Texas again, that would be a good step, as they're usually flirting with the top 25. I'd like to see a series with a BE opponent like Nova or Marquette, so long as they're expected to be a top team when we play them. Ideally we can get someone like Ohio State/Michigan/Michigan State in a home-and-home, a blue blood like Kansas, or maybe revive the UNC series. I like having a reliable top-50 local game in Harvard, so let's keep that going, and maybe add another regional mid-major like VCU or George Washington.

I just don't want another ho-hum slate where we're banking on the strength of the opposing team's conference rather than the strength of the actual opponent.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

6 of the 12 OOC games are already accounted for:
@ Florida
@ Stanford
Texas
3 games in Puerto Rico

Only one of these games is at home, so I'm sure we're looking to play 5 (if not all 6) of the remaining games in CT.

 

[Karmacop]

6 of the 12 OOC games are already accounted for:
@ Florida
@ Stanford
Texas
3 games in Puerto Rico

Only one of these games is at home, so I'm sure we're looking to play 5 (if not all 6) of the remaining games in CT.

Just to expand, UConn will play three of the following seven teams attending the Puerto Rico Tip Off in November of 2014 (with current KenPom ratings in parentheses):

College of Charleston (200)
Dayton (65)
George Mason (140)
West Virginia (63)
Boston College (151)
New Mexico (51)
Texas A&M (166)

We'll know more once the brackets are released. But none of these teams will be horrible, and some should have RPIs that will help with tournament resumes. On the other hand, none of these teams figure to be powerhouses either.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Just to expand, UConn will play three of the following seven teams attending the Puerto Rico Tip Off in November of 2014 (with current KenPom ratings in parentheses):

College of Charleston (200)
Dayton (65)
George Mason (140)
West Virginia (63)
Boston College (151)
New Mexico (51)
Texas A&M (166)

We'll know more once the brackets are released. But none of these teams will be horrible, and some should have RPIs that will help with tournament resumes. On the other hand, none of these teams figure to be powerhouses either.

The Puerto Rico field is not great, but those other 3 games make up a very strong anchor to the OOC schedule. Texas is really good now and should be even better next year. Stanford should be decent enough and Florida should be more than decent enough even though they lose a bunch of good seniors.

 

[Tenspro2002]

The Puerto Rico field is not great, but those other 3 games make up a very strong anchor to the OOC schedule. Texas is really good now and should be even better next year. Stanford should be decent enough and Florida should be more than decent enough even though they lose a bunch of good seniors.

The Puerto Rico teams sound like a lot of what we had this year, similar to BC/Indiana/Maryland. OK, but definitely not good enough to compensate on their own for an increasingly weak conference. We've gotta start getting back into the major preseason events; these second-tier ones just don't cut it. The fact that we were passed over for Maui in 2015 is disconcerting.

I would feel better about one more big headline game to complement Florida and Texas (I still don't trust Stanford to be a marquee opponent). How about vs. Ohio State? Add vs. Harvard, vs. BU (if they're anticipated to be top-100 again), and only 3-4 true cupcakes, and that's a pretty solid schedule. We'll have a more challenging November/December than January/February.

 

[champs99and04]

Are we definitely playing Texas next year? Looking at their roster, they should be top ten.

 

[Hi-Low]

6 of the 12 OOC games are already accounted for:
@ Florida
@ Stanford
Texas
3 games in Puerto Rico

Only one of these games is at home, so I'm sure we're looking to play 5 (if not all 6) of the remaining games in CT.

We played 13 OOC games this year so maybe 7 spots to fill, Harvard probably 1 of them. We better limit the cupcakes to 3 and try to put together a top 10 OOC schedule. The AAC looks to be fairly awful next year with L'ville gone & Cincy/Memphis losing 3 key seniors each...Memphis still looks to be good, not sure about Cincy.

 

[ZenConn]

I'd love to see us play Arizona in a home and home.

 

[DogMania]

I'd love to see us play Arizona in a home and home.

I'm with you on that one. Zona was the first program that came to mind. We're had so many memorable games against them. The combined style of play of both programs has always translated to uber entertaining games.

Here's the rest of my list:

KU for the same reason I mention above. They're always ranked high and will give us a nice RPI boost.

UK - They too will likely be ranked high just about every season, they always give us a good fight, plus we've had their number. Lastly I love beating teams I hate. Again, another team with an entertaining style of play. You just want to get them early since they're roster will be young and inexperienced and ripe for the picking.

UF - they're another program who's style of play produces an entertaining game, plus FL has been a futile recruiting ground for UConn over the years.

If GT ever gets good again, they'd be a good home and home partner. Georgia has also been a good recruiting state for us.

MSU - If you want to be battle tested for the tourney, the Spartans will give you the physical test the doctor orders. Like UK, you want to get them early. They tend to drop games early on before going on a tear that they usually carry to -4.

UCLA - Although the've been a mixed bag the past decade or so, they are a storied program that we had some epic games against. Establishing home and homes against them will help with the LA recruiting. I just wonder if UCLA, USC and any team in Southern Cal to that matter would like nothing more than to keep Ollie as far away from LA as possible.

I'm okay with a trip to UW, Oregon or Northern Cal, such as Stanford every couple years. Don't want to do that often though. The travel, such as what we witnessed during our time in Texas can take its toll.

In addition to MSU, scheduling other B10 programs such as Ohio State, IU, Mich, Illini (we've had some recruiting success in Chicago) wouldn't be such a bad idea. There are lot of kids who share similar beliefs as KO in B10 country, so trips to the Bible Belt would make lot of sense to me. And who knows, maybe KO and the program as a whole will leave such a good impression that maybe they'll extend us an invitation to join their conference.

Texas - Yet another state that has been good to us when it comes to recruiting. They not only have a style of play that works well for us, but also usually serves up a W, thanks to Rick Barnes bringing one of the worst game coaches to the court. He's one of those coached that does less with more.

UNC - They've been a good matchup for us, and usually a guaranteed RPI bump. I'm not that crazy about them being in bed with ESPN and getting favorable treatment like Duke, but I like big games and ones against the Heals every few years fits the bill. As for recruiting, NC is as bad as it gets for UConn, though maybe Ollie effect will work there as well someday.

MD is another good destination because of our recruiting success in the Baltimore area. Though they are a program that I've not liked all that much over the years. Gary Williams was a very unlikable guy, though he's finally gone.

Lastly I'd like to see us play some good old Big East rivals such as Georgetown, again an important recruiting area for UConn. Nova was a fun foe, though Philly has been dreadful recruiting wise. As much as I hate SU for stabbing us in the back, I'd still like to play them once in a while.

Programs I want no part of are:

Duke - simply hate them but love beating them. I'm sure we'll face them enough in both pre and post season tournaments.

Pitt - Hate their style of play, their program and their punk ass fans.

UL - I hate playing against their style of play, plus they took our spot in the ACC.

PC and BC - Not much benefit playing either of them, plus we recruit against them in NE. Though I do miss beating BC year after year. They've been blocking us from the ACC for years. They're dead to me.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

We played 13 OOC games this year so maybe 7 spots to fill, Harvard probably 1 of them. We better limit the cupcakes to 3 and try to put together a top 10 OOC schedule. The AAC looks to be fairly awful next year with L'ville gone & Cincy/Memphis losing 3 key seniors each...Memphis still looks to be good, not sure about Cincy.

I'm pretty sure the rule is that you only get 13 OOC games if 4 of them are part of an early season tournament. Most tournaments are 3 games, but 2K Sports gives you 4 (Detroit, BU, BC, Indiana).